US Soldiers Deserve More Than Rhetoric, Opines Prof. Kevin Howley

June 25, 2014

"In the wake of recent scandals at the Veteran's Administration and the media firestorm surrounding the release of Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl from Taliban captivity, politicians and pundits have been working overtime proclaiming their support for the troops. But as the old saying goes, talk is cheap," opines Kevin Howley, associate professor of communication at DePauw University.

In a column published in Indiana's Bloomington Herald-Times today, the professor declares, "When the history of the Afghan War is written, such pronouncements will be revealed for what they are: cynical and manipulative propaganda used to justify America's imperial ambitions."

Howley writes, "What makes recent calls for supporting the troops all the more galling is the willful ignorance of a painful reality -- America's fighting forces are broken, forsaken and as evidenced by Sgt. Bergdahl's case, wholly disillusioned with the so-called war on terror. Put differently, the crisis at the V.A. is but one ailment plaguing our beleaguered armed forces. From the epidemic of rape in the military and the alarming number of veteran suicides to the grim history of mass shootings on military bases, the disastrous consequences of endless war are difficult to ignore. Difficult for everyone, that is, but tin-eared politicians and media pundits who offer little more than lip service to our men and women in uniform."